Jul 29, 2013

Since last month, Bluestem has been following news of tonight's Central Minnesota Tea Party sponsored speech by Islamophobe Brigitte Gabriel, "one of the most visible personalities on a circuit of self-appointed
terrorism detectors who warn that Muslims pose an enormous danger within
United States borders," according to the New York Times.

I know we
would do better, but it has been requested that we not put this event in
newspapers or put up flyers - any advertising like that will be done by
Brigitte's organization if they choose to do so. I have contacted a few
law enforcement agencies, but if you have email addresses for me, I will send a
personal invitation to those in your areas. All law enforcement showing
their badges at the door get in free - we want them educated! [emphasis added]

Today, the executive director of the Committee on American-Islamic Relations--Minnesota (CAIR-MN) Lori Sayora sent us an email about her group's follow-up on that offer:

CAIR-MN
contacted 20 police departments near Little Falls today and asked them
to make an informed decision on an invitation to an event featuring
anti-Muslim activist Brigette
Gabriel. CAIR-MN has received a positive response and assurance from
law enforcement that they will not attend the anti-Muslim event.

In the July 29, 2013 letter, CAIR-MN wrote:

“As
your police department would not, and should not, get trained by a
racist or an anti-Semitic speaker, we kindly request that you apply
the same standard to an anti-Muslim speaker.”

“Terrorism is a real threat to our nation and law
enforcement needs to be educated about that threat. However, law
enforcement and other agencies must look at the credentials and
backgrounds of purported ‘experts’ before allowing their
officers to be trained by them.”

The organization also sent out a separate press release, CAIR-MN Asks GOP to Repudiate Invite to Talk by Anti-Muslim Speaker:

(MINNEAPOLIS, MN, 7/29/13
-- The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-MN) today called on Republican leaders in that state to repudiate a
GOP official who is promoting an event
tonight featuring the leader of an anti-Muslim hate group.

Seventh District GOP Congressional Chair Craig Bishop
distributed an email invitation to a talk at a Little Falls, Minn., high
school by "Brigitte Gabriel," head of the hate group ACT! for America.
In the email,
sent using Bishop’s official 7th District GOP email address, he stated:
“This is a must to attend.”

ACT! for America leader Hanah Kahwagi Tudor, who goes
by the pseudonym "Brigitte Gabriel," has said Arabs have “no soul” and
that Islam is the “real enemy.” The Southern Poverty Law Center lists
her as one of
the “Anti-Islam Inner Circle.” The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says
Gabriel’s beliefs are extreme, while the New York Times described her as
an "Islamophobe.”

“The perceived endorsement by a Republican official of
hate speech sends the message that the Minnesota GOP is hostile to
minority voters,” said CAIR-MN Executive Director Lori Saroya. “We urge
state Republican
Party officials to repudiate this invitation to religious hatred and to
instead promote mutual respect and positive civic participation by
voters of all faiths and backgrounds.” . . .

There's more, mostly a digest of earlier press releases and coverage.

St. Cloud Times Editor: CMTP should "schedule CAIR-MN as their next featured speaker"

I’m a firm believer that public places are just that — public. They should be available to everyone. I also believe that what your message says generally trumps the importance of where it is delivered, especially in an era of 24/7 media coverage and with everyone seemingly armed with a smartphone.

Those
beliefs are why I’m disappointed in — and disagree with — CAIR-MN’s
effort to force the Central Minnesota Tea Party Patriots from renting a public space Monday where it can host a nationally known activist with whom CAIR-MN disagrees. . . .

And concluded with a twist:

Now before you start reading between these lines, please know that
based on what I have read about Gabriel, I see her tactics as causing
more problems than she solves. Look no further than her two New York
Times best-sellers, “Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror
Warns America” and “They Must Be Stopped: Why we must defeat radical
Islam and how we can do it.”

Similarly, I question exactly what these Tea Party Patriots are trying to accomplish.

Of
course, they could answer that question for me — and you — by doing one
simple thing: After hearing from Gabriel, schedule CAIR-MN as their
next featured speaker at their next meeting in the Little Falls high
school.

Again, isn’t exposure to all sides of an issue what education is all about?

Curiously, despite Judd's claims in her email that no press releases will be sent out by the Tea Party, the Morrison County Record posted a press release that included her contact information online on July 28,2013 under the headline, Brigitte Gabriel to speak at LFCHS Monday.

Photo: CAIR-MN executive director Lori Saroya, via St. Katherine University's website. Saroya received the college's alumnae association's 2011 Rising Star Award that "recognizes a recent graduate who demonstrates vision and compassion,
action and insight necessary to rise to significant levels of
achievement in the future.
Asma Lori Saroya SP’07 received the award for her extensive advocacy work that embodies social justice values."

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